Vending machines are commonly used to dispense diverse types and forms of goods, and such machines have even been adapted to dispense packets of cash in predetermined amounts. The popularity of dispensing cash packets seems to be attributable to the simplicity of debiting fixed amounts and to the convenience of using dispensing technology which is similar to the technology used in dispensing such packaged goods as cigarettes and candy bars. Machines of this type are disclosed in the literature (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,662,343 and 3,845,277). One disadvantage associated with conventional cash-dispensing machines is that the packets of cash remain highly vulnerable to pilferage in the course of manually inserting cash into packets and in the course of loading packets into the dispensing machines.
It is highly desirable to obviate the manual handling of cash (or other forms of money, like traveler's checks, etc.) in the preparation of the cash for dispensing and in the loading of the cash supply into a dispenser. Also, it is highly desirable to dispense cash (or currency, generally) in arbitrary amounts for greater versatility and accounting possibilities with respect to a recipient's own account balance.